Conversation with Grecia Barboza, San Francisco 49ers Counsel

Welcome to the Talking Sports Law podcast, created and produced by K&L Gates. Each episode features a discussion of legal issues from the world of sports, interviews with sports law professionals, and analysis of recent trends. Let's get this episode kicked off.

Welcome to another episode of Talking Sports Law from K&L Gates. I'm one of your hosts, John Wilson, a partner in our sports industry group, and I'm joined by my co-host on today's episode, Trevor Gates. Trevor, how are you doing? I'm doing well, John.

How are you? I'm doing well. And I know that we will not release this until these events have already transpired. But we'll get your picks on the record right now.

Trevor, who do you like in the NBA Finals and Stanley Cup Finals? Well, it's sort of hard to see Oklahoma City not winning it. And then I assume Florida will take it home, too. So I'll probably go with both the favorites and both those who are leading right now.

And we'll see how it plays out. Of course, you'll probably try to edit this if either one of those things does not happen to make it sound like you got those predictions right. So yeah, we can cut that very easily.

It's okay. Yeah. Well, I'm very excited for our guests today, Trevor.

Yeah, I am very excited as well. So obviously, we enjoy chatting with all of our guests equally. But as a lifetime fan of the team that this person works for, maybe I'm a little biased here.

So without further ado, we are excited to be joined by Grecia Barboza, counsel for the can I say five time Super Bowl champion San Francisco 49ers. So on today's episode, we are going to explore Grecia's experience joining the 49ers, a role she's held for almost four years now after being in private practice for several years before then. And looking at some of the issues she handles in her current role, Garcia received her undergraduate degree from Columbia University and her law degree from a small little law school you may have heard of Harvard, Grecia Barboza, welcome to talk in sports law and thanks for joining us.

Thanks so much for having me. It's an honor to be here. Can you walk us through the path you took to get to your current role? How did you become interested in sports law or working in sports? Yeah, so I actually grew up in Napa.

So I've always been a fan of Bay Area sports. And I'm also a really big football fan. But when I was in law school, I wasn't really thinking of sports law as something that I was planning on pursuing.

I was more focused on trying to learn how to become a good lawyer. So after law school, I worked in corporate law at a couple of law firms, Davis, Polk, and Wilson Sonsini. And while I was there, I was mostly doing securities law or like initial public offerings, but also other more generic corporate law, like mergers and acquisitions.

But I was very grateful for the transactional experience that I gained at those law firms because I feel as if they really helped me develop my legal skills, like my legal research and writing skills were great after working there. That being said, I think once I got to the point where I was around a fourth year associate, I realized that I was starting to become an expert at securities law and very specialized in initial public offerings. And while they were very interesting and a fun thing for me to work on, I wasn't sure if that's what I wanted for the rest of my career.

But I knew that I wanted to find a legal role where I felt very passionate and also excited about the subject, like what I was doing. And I knew I wanted to stay in the Bay Area. So it just so happened that around the time that I started looking for a new position, the 49ers position opened up and everything kind of fell right into place.

So Gracia, can you just talk to us a little bit about, you know, what your role is like with the 49ers and, you know, what does a typical day look like for you? So in my role as counsel, I provide legal advice to a lot of different internal 49ers departments like marketing, sales, corporate partnerships, sweet sales, human resources, the football operations team, finance. We have an affiliate nonprofit organization, the 49ers Foundation, that I also provide advice to and a handful of other departments. And really, there's no typical day, but I would say that most days, I'm researching different areas of the law, like employment law, privacy law.

I'm also providing internal staff with recommendations on new department initiatives and whether or not they make sense from a legal perspective. I'm drafting and reviewing agreements, other legal documents, and also advising on different compliance with things like California law, federal law, and also NFL rules and regulations. That's a lot to keep up with.

I mean, you listed probably 10 to 15 different examples of work you're doing, right? Sweet sales, HR, NFL rules, California specific rules, 49ers Foundation. So when you left private practice and joined the 49ers, were there sort of specific areas of law that you had to work to become more well-versed in or pick up very quickly, and how did you approach that? Yeah. So in private practice, I began to feel very comfortable with any type of agreement and legal documents.

So I was working on, you know, not just drafting agreements, but also reviewing agreements like via due diligence. And so I really gained, I would say, an insight into what different types of agreements looked like. And from a transactional perspective, I felt comfortable with drafting, reviewing, writing, like legal writing and research.

I felt great. But when I started at the 49ers, you know, I wasn't doing securities work anymore. And it was very different from that.

So there were a handful, maybe more than a handful of areas that I had to become more familiar with. And I think specifically, at least initially, employment law and privacy law and intellectual property law were the three that I really focused on getting to know better during my first couple of seasons with the team. Gracia, what would you say would be an example of one of the most difficult or complex projects that you or your team has handled, the legal team at the 49ers have handled, you know, in the recent past, something that comes to mind? So I really try to view every new issue, and even if it's complex or not complex, as a learning experience, an opportunity to grow, especially if it involves something that I haven't encountered before.

But right now, it's a very exciting time for the team and for the stadium, because we have two big events coming up in 2026. We have Super Bowl 60 in February and the World Cup. We're hosting a few matches in the summer of 2026.

And there are a lot of moving pieces there. And a lot of people at the organization are working on both of those events. So it involves a lot of collaborative, cross-functional work across different departments in preparation for those events.

And while I think it is, you know, pretty complex to be working on both events at the same time, it is also a very exciting time. And I really enjoy the fact that everybody from the legal team is contributing to both of those events. And so even though it is a little bit difficult and complex at times, it's definitely fun and exciting.

Yeah, next summer is going to be amazing with the World Cup here. And the fact that you guys, you know, are hosting a Super Bowl just a few months before welcoming World Cup matches to the stadium, that's just that's incredible and very, very unique for any other host city, right? No one else has that experience. So that next 2026 is going to be a busy year for you, Gracia.

It's going to be a busy year, but an exciting year. I'll add that Levi's Stadium is awesome. So I mean, if anyone can make it out of the Super Bowl, that's not a big enough selling point.

Levi's Stadium is probably my favorite stadium. So again, I might be a little biased, but it's a great stadium. I mean, I'm crossing my fingers and hoping that we aren't just hosting it, but also playing in it.

But we'll see how that goes. One hot topic that seems to be on everyone's mind right now in a variety of industries, including perhaps sports, is artificial intelligence, AI or gen AI, generative artificial intelligence and how it's used in the world. Have you had to confront AI or gen AI in your role as for the 49ers and sort of how did you approach it or what were the issues you had to deal with? So being in the Silicon Valley, this is definitely something that has started to become a bigger focus since I, you know, since I've been working at the organization.

And as a member of the legal department, I definitely see it as my duty to make sure that whatever initiative a department is considering is legally sound and, you know, a good technology solution that makes sense for us. We aren't using AI in large capacities yet, but the organization is starting to implement it in smaller cases and in places where it makes sense. However, we're still relying on people to do the bulk of our work.

I have noticed a trend, though, that other legal departments that I've spoken to have started using gen AI or AI functions for developing templates for their contracts. But we aren't at that point yet, although I do think that it is probably something that we will consider in the future. Graciela, what would you say are some of the trends or big issues that you see in sports law in the coming year? So aside from AI, which I do think is, you know, not just not just for sports, but also for every industry, something that I think is super exciting is the expansion of women's sports, especially in the Bay Area.

So last year, Bay FC was a new team in the Bay. And this year we have the Golden State Valkyries as a new WNBA team. On top of that, I've seen a big focus, especially in football, on girls flag football.

So I think we can envision that the trend is going to continue to expand. And it's super exciting for girls and women all over the U.S. and also all over the world. I'm hoping that, you know, women's sports keep growing.

Yeah, I just saw that the 2025 NWSL championship is going to be played in San Jose. So that's going to be another major event coming to the Bay Area a little later this year. But I'm with you.

It's been so exciting just to see the overall rise of women's sports and just the popularity of the W and NWSL and lots of other different ventures. So it's been fantastic. Yeah, I'm also interested to see the development of our flag football's effect on some of the other sports, both men and women.

It seems like that's just going to continue to grow over the years. It'll be interesting how that affects the overall sport, too. Gracia, for our law student listeners, we like to ask this question, but is there a class or sort of a clinic or maybe some sort of experience you wish you would have taken in law school or that you did take in law school to prepare you for your current role or perhaps one of your prior roles? So I think data privacy is super important.

And that's regardless of whether or not a student plans to work in sports or would like to work in sports, I think in any industry, especially in California and in states where data privacy is more highly regulated, it's just so relevant and important. And it's an ongoing practice that I think will continue to expand. And there are just so many nuances that apply locally and internationally that it's something that I wish I had really started to get to know that area of the law sooner and in law school.

But I also think it's very, not easy, but it's very possible to learn it when you start practicing in-house at a sports team. But the more experience you have with it, the better. All right.

So you just heard that sound of the whistle, which indicates that we've reached the end of our regular time, but we'll be heading into our overtime segment. So Grecia, on our overtime segment, Trevor and I will fire a couple rapid fire questions at you and just respond with the first thing that pops into your mind. So Grecia, are you ready for overtime? Yes, I'm ready.

All right. All right. What's your favorite activity or hobby when you're not working? I have two.

So the first one is cycling. I love road cycling and riding my bike around the South Bay. It's so fun.

And my other one, I would say movies. I love just watching a movie when I'm at home. Can I ask a bonus question? Do you have any recent recommendations of a favorite movie that you've watched? I just watched Double Indemnity.

It's like kind of a neo-noir movie from, I think, the 40s. It was great. It's a good classic if you like classic black and white movies.

Also sounds like a good movie for lawyers, right? The Acid Double Indemnity. Actually, yeah, it relates to insurance. But it's very interesting.

I promise it's not a boring legal movie. That's awesome. What is one favorite food or perhaps restaurant recommendation in the Bay Area? I'm going to be a little bit bored, and I really like Sweetgreen.

It's not just in the Bay Area, but I just, it's my favorite thing to eat whenever I don't know what I want to eat. I go to Sweetgreen, I go to Harvest Bowl, and it's just an amazing meal. It's always perfect.

Gracia, what's the greatest live sports moment that you've ever been a part of? This one is a little complicated because Super Bowl 58 in Vegas was the coolest experience I've ever been a part of. And even though the loss was heartbreaking, I still can't get over the fact of how amazing it was to experience a Super Bowl in person. The halftime show was amazing, like basically up until the last few minutes of the fourth quarter, it was a great experience.

What is one book, TV show, or podcast that will skip the movie that you have really enjoyed recently? So I just finished watching The Rehearsal season two on HBO Max, and it was so fun, so funny, and just like a very interesting concept. I love Nathan Fielder, and I highly recommend it for anyone that hasn't seen it. And Gracia, last question, in overtime, if you were not working as a sports lawyer, what would you be doing? I think I would, this one's kind of tough.

I would either be a film critic or a video game streamer. I love that. What would be your streamer name? Like Gracia the Great or something like that? You know, I've never thought about it, but maybe it's worth it to start thinking about it.

If anyone wants to send me ideas, I'm happy to, you know, take some. I love that. Well, Gracia, thank you so much for joining us today as a guest.

You were fantastic. Thanks so much for having me. I really enjoyed my time with you guys.

And that'll do it for another episode of Talking Sports Law from K&L Gates. Special thanks to our guest, Gracia Barbosa, counsel for the San Francisco 49ers. You can find all of our episodes on our website, klgates.com, or by searching for HubTalks, wherever you get your podcasts.

If you'd like to be a guest on our podcast or if you have ideas for future podcast topics, please don't hesitate to reach out to either me or Trevor. Thanks very much for listening to Talking Sports Law from K&L Gates.